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[EDITORIAL] The 10 Most Influential Nigerian Musicians On The Social Media In 2015

The 10 Most Influential Nigerian Musicians On The Social Media In 20151. P-Square:

The Anambra State-born “brothers wey dey scatter all over the borders” are undoubtedly the kings of the social media as far as Nigerian music goes. They are far ahead of the chasing pack when it comes to raw numbers and influence. Everything P Square does is likely going to end up being dissected and discussed on the social media, whether it’s an acquisition of a new car or some otherwise domestic issues. A Google search of “P-Square,” “PSquare” and “P Square” yielded a whooping 1.18 million, 655,000 and 1.23 million results respectively as at the time of compiling this list. These Google search stats put them only behind Goodluck Jonathan and Buhari (8.65 million and 7.82 million respectively), among Nigerian personalities. Unlike most Nigerian celebrities, they are well represented in all of the major social media platforms. On the Big Two – Twitter and Facebook – their following is massive. Peter and Paul Okoye‘s combined Twitter following stands at 1.08 million (though these followers may overlap), while the duo’s official Facebook page has 1.8 million likes. Their individual accounts on Instagram also are also massively popular among music lovers and personal admirers. On the video-sharing social network YouTube, their official releases regularly attract views running into the millions, a feat that most Nigerian acts can only dream of.

2. Wizkid:

The self-styled StarBoy may not have had the best of years (musically) in 2014, but that did very little to dent his social media standing in Nigeria. He’s still the most followed Nigerian celebrity on Twitter, with 1.4 million followers, 300,000 more than his nearest competitor and professional archrival, Davido. His Facebook stats are not bad either, neither are his Instagram’s. On the Facebook-owned Instagram, he boasts of over 500,000 followers.

3. Davido:

Music has really been good to him since he hugged the limelight with his smash hit, Dami Duro. He’s one of the very few successful born-with-a-silver-spoon Nigerian crooners and with each year comes new highs and heights for the lad. He recently wrestled the number two spot on Twitter’s most followed Nigerian celebrities ranking from D Kokomaster, Dbanj. He now has close to 1.1 million followers on Twitter compared to Dbanj’s 1.06 million. On Facebook, it even gets better. Over there, his official page has 1.17 million likes on it. On Instagram, he just about edges out Wizkid with close to 550,000 followers. His 2014 hit track, Aye, garnered an incredible 14+ million views on YouTube, making it one of Nigeria’s all-time most viewed videos on the Google-owned social network.

4. Don Jazzy:

The Doro-Boss may not be the boss of the Nigerian social media scene, but he definitely can hold his own on it, anytime, any day. Nigeria’s biggest and most popular music producer has quite an intimidating social media statistics. On Twitter (which he uses very often to interact with his fans and not merely to post updates about upcoming shows, perhaps more than any other Nigerian A-list celebrity) he has about 1.02 million followers; on Facebook he has close to 750,000 likes on his verified page; and on Instagram he’s not doing badly either, with over 350 million followers. Being the boss of the biggest and most star-studded music label in the country of course comes with additional perks and added popularity to his own personal brand.

5. 2Baba:

Tu Face Idibia is undoubtedly a legend in the game; an icon in the African music scene who established and upcoming artistes alike look up to for inspiration and guidance. Therefore, it will be unsurprising to discover that the he enjoys a cult-like following among Nigeria’s music-crazed populace. And there’s no better place to gauge just how popular he is this than on the social media. Though it’s been years since he last released a hit, it hasn’t stopped his social media clout from expanding on a daily basis. He’s often off the gossip and paparazzi radar, but the father of 7 doesn’t need to embroil himself in any scandal or controversy to remain relevant. He’s one of the most followed Nigerian celebrities on the social media. On Twitter, he has close to 1 million followers (958,000 as at the time of this publication). On Facebook, his official page has close to 400,000 likes to its name, while on Instagram he has roughly 222,000 followers.

6. D’Banj:

Though he’s no longer a force to be reckoned with in the music scene and he’s lately been hugging the headlines not because of his musical exploits but because of the alleged numerous debt scandals he’s been embroiled in, he has not fallen off the radar in the social media world. His tweets and posts are still well received, with thousands of retweets, favourites, likes and comments each time he sends something out with his social media accounts. On Twitter, his following is 1.05-million-strong. On Facebook and Instagram the figures are 1.18 million and about 70,000 respectively. Unlike his former business partner Don Jazzy, he doesn’t interact with his followers that much on the social media, but that has had very little or no bearing on his internet following.

7. Olamide:

The self-styled “Voice of the Street” is as massive on the social media as he is on the streets of South Western Nigeria. On Twitter, his following is a healthy 450,000 and on Instagram it’s almost 290,000.

8. Banky W:

The R&B crooner burst into the Nigerian music scene with his Naija-flavoured remix of Rihanna’s first hit single “Umbrella,” which he titled “Ebutemeta” and further cemented his place as one of the brightest and most talented stars in the local music scene with his biggest hit till date, “Strong Thing.” His persona and … has drawn him a host of admirers, many of whom follow him on online. The US-born entertainer commands Nigeria’s 5th largest celebrity Twitter following with 940,000. He’s not much of a Facebooker, but that didn’t deter his community page from attracting 464,000 likes. On Instagram, he’s followed by 158,000. Like Don Jazzy, he often uses his social media accounts for political and social activism.

9. Tiwa Savage:

The sizzling Mavin first lady is the queen of the social media in the Nigerian music scene. She easily beats out other female acts like Chidinma, Omawunmi and Waje to the top spot. Despite only bursting into the local scene from the Diaspora in 2010, she has managed to carve out a niche for herself and build her brand around it. She’s not the type that shies away from controversy; she courts them actually – an attitude that has won her lots of admirers and pissed off a whole lotta others. Such controversies, however, are the perfect ingredients for social media stardom and notoriety. She may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but she has really done well for herself in so short a period of time. Her Twitter fanbase is 895,000-strong and her Instagram statistics are equally intimidating with about 315,000 followers.

10. Ice Prince:

Panshak Zamani rounds off the list of the 10 most influential Nigerian musicians on the social media. His verified Twitter account is followed by about 610,000 tweeps and his official Facebook page has attracted nearly 1 million likes (precisely about 990,000), while on Facebook’s Instagram he has about 335,000 followers. Not bad for an artiste whose big break came in June 2010 with the release of “Oleku” featuring Brymo. Worthy mentions: MI, Omawumi, Waje, Flavour N’abania, Wande Coal, Phyno, Naeto C, Sound Sultan, Jesse Jagz and Timaya.